Google has unveiled its latest top-end smartphone and tablet, the 6in Nexus 6 and the 8.9in Nexus 9, along with the next version of Android 5.0 - which will be called “Lollipop”.

Lollipop replaces KitKat (Android 4.4), released in October 2013, and promises to increase battery life, add multiple user accounts and security features, and give developers more control over notifications. The new software will launch first on the new Google Nexus devices, before coming as an update to older Nexus smartphones and tablets.

Other Android smartphone manufacturers may release updates to their existing smartphones at a later date. At present 24.5% of Android devices accessing Google Play run KitKat, according to Google’s data.

Big splash

The Nexus 6 – codenamed Shamu, after the Seaworld killer whale – is the largest Nexus-branded smartphone to date, with a 6in quad HD screen putting it firmly in phablet territory. The previous Nexus 5 smartphone had a 5in 1080p screen.

Google appears to be pushing sales of the device through multiple carriers, after making minimal efforts in previous years; although Nexus phones had a high specification and low cost, they were difficult to obtain because Google did not want to cut into sales of rival Android handsets. With the Nexus 6, it may make a greater effort to capture sales.

Made for Google by Motorola, it has the latest 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor (also used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 4) and a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation to reduce camera shake and to minimise blurring in low-light conditions.

Motorola replaces LG, which made the Nexus-branded phones for the last two years. It adds a “fast charging” feature that provides up to six hours of use from only 15 minutes charging.

Square Nexus

The Nexus 9, made by Taiwan’s HTC, is Google’s 8.9in replacement tablet for the 7in Nexus 7, which saw two models in two years made by Asus, a Taiwanese rival to HTC. The Nexus 9 has a 4:3 screen ratio, which is more square than the traditional 16:9 widescreen used by most other Android tablets and smartphones, but the same as Apple’s iPad. That ratio suits web browsing but leaves black bars at the top and bottom of widescreen videos.

The 8.9in screen has a better than full HD 2K resolution and is the first Android tablet to have a 64-bit processor using Nvidia’s new Tegra K1 dual-core processor.

“The Nexus 9 is a great example of what can be achieved when two companies, united in their passion for innovative technology, come together to create a product with the user experience at the very centre of the design process,” said HTC’s chief executive Peter Chou.

The Nexus 9 has an eight-megapixel camera and a soft-touch plastic back and metal sides, available in black, white and beige.

Previous Nexus smartphones and tablets have offered a premium high-end device but at a more affordable price with the Nexus 5 smartphone costing £300 and the Nexus 7 tablet £200 – at least £200 cheaper than the majority of the high-end competition, though almost identical to Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, which launched at the same time in 2012.

The Nexus 6 and 9 will be available in the UK in November. The Nexus 6 costs £499 ($649) with 32GB of storage and the Nexus 9 £319 ($399).

Google TV Mark 3

Google’s entered the gaming console war with the new Nexus Player based on Android TV, which has an optional wireless joypad. Photograph: Google

Google also unveiled a new Nexus Player, made by Asus, which is the reincarnation of Google’s smart TV platform, now called Android TV.

It is a set-top box with media streaming capabilities, performing a similar service as Google’s Chromecast media streaming stick, but also doubles as a gaming device with wireless joypad and compatibility with Android games, similar to the ill-fated Android console Ouya.

The Nexus Player costs $99 in the US while the optional joypad costs a further $40. UK pricing and availability was not announced.